Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault

An overall great, fun, and easy to access roguelite that is a drastic improvement from Moonlighter 1. Very high 8/10. This review is going to be long because I disliked Moonlighter 1, but I really enjoyed Moonlighter 2, so I want to give some roses. This game shifts from Moonlighter 1's top-down, typical dungeon crawler (think Binding of Isaac) to an isometric, Slay the Spire inspired choice exploration, which feels fairly natural despite being different. Elements such as the upgrades/progression, exploration, combat, and the shop is expanded upon and greatly improved. In its current state, Moonlighter 2 offers 3 zones, each with a day and night version (So technically 6 levels). Each of these zones have their own theming and enemies which you'll fight through until you reach a boss and complete the level or leave using the amulet. I enjoy the new planning aspect of the game where you can go down certain paths to emphasize chests/better relics, perks, health, etc. It makes approaching any specific goal easier, such as collecting materials, killing bosses, or quick money. Each level has it's own ~25 relics and majority of these relics have their own unique curse (usually in themed with other relics of the same level). The curses are fun to play around with and require thoughtful planning to maximize potential gains. Runs can start feeling stale and repetitive, especially if doing the same level again, although I think the map planning and combat/perk variety keeps everything semi-fresh. I think the game would benefit from more room variety, such as environmental/location changes (majority of rooms are just squares with enemies to kill with the same skybox/background) or a more environment dangerous/interesting room (specific rooms with volcanoes, electrical spikes, vehicles on tracks, or tornadoes that damage the player and enemies; maybe challenge or wave-based rooms that increase chests/materials/rewards as player continues). Also increasing the number of pre-designed rooms as its not uncommon to see the same layout a couple of times during a run (Also its very common it see the same room and enemy positions in a separate run). In the later levels there are a couple of specific rooms whose platforms block player sight and hide enemy positions. Combat is fairly simple as you could just dodge once and then attack 2-3 times, repeat until every enemy is dead. However, weapon categories and mid-run perks can heavily influence playstyle and/or make the basic loop very interesting. Each weapon category has its own feel, special attack, and unique properties/mechanic that separates it from slight change in speed and damage. Swords specialize in quick attacks and sweeps which can hit multiple enemies if executed properly. Spears specialize in ranged, quick jabs whose special summons ranged projectiles based on the length of your attack combo. The gauntlets reward very high DPS to highly aggressive, single targeting. The great swords' gimmick is keeping a meter full to do any meaningful damage, but I felt it was easily out performed by any other weapon. Each of these melee types have 4-5 unlockable and upgradable variants that change their specials and/or intended gameplay styles. Certain variants specialize in killing crowds, aggression, careful planning, or even specific enemy types. For example, the normal spear has high-damage projectiles that b-line to the player, however other variations change the purpose of these projectiles through modifying their damage and path (follow player, seek enemies, etc.). The bow has been replaced with various gun types, all of which serve their own purpose (Ex: precision, quick-execution, crowd control, etc.). Gameplay is further spiced through temporary perks found throughout a run, which often grant 6 unique element effects for specific moves (and each elemental has its own unique temporary upgrades branches), character buffs, or situational status effects. Some reward focusing on a singular enemy (namely stacking or + damage on kill), while some are better for crowd control (namely + damage for # of enemies inflicted or inflict damage on close enemies). This system keeps each run relatively fresh as your probably going to have a different build from your previous one and emphasizing one ability over another. What is even better is that you'll be incentivized and rewarded for choosing different weapons as later on there is an upgrade the increases the money you gain based on the run's highlighted weapon. Overall, combat is very easy and enemies rarely feel tanky or overpowered (unless if you maybe missed out on every perk room). Most enemies are fun to fight against and each have their own purpose for their respective level. Most enemies only have 1-2 moves (ranged and medic enemies) while the others have 3-4 (melees/tanks), all of which are very telegraphed. The true threat is when you accidently aggro another platform of enemies while dodging, where the screen can become overly crowded. The exception to this are the last couple of levels because most enemies fly (requiring the gun to shoot down), teleport (so they move to another platform), or have rooms that spam too many enemies (2 specific ones have ~20 enemies on a very small platform). I do feel like there are too little enemy types for several 20-30 minute runs, but it never felt too repetitive. My biggest problem with the combat are the mini-bosses and bosses. The "mini-bosses" are just regular enemies you fight halfway through the map and only have more health, no unique attacks or abilities. Most the time they will be stuck doing one attack the entire fight as you beat them to death, a product of most basic enemies doing one attack type if your in melee distance. Bosses are serviceable but I feel like they are too easy due to sharing mechanics and having very similar patterns. Avoid this big red circle, avoid this red line, run around in a circle, etc. They won't prioritize specific moves (Ex: melee combo if your too close or dash/range if too far) and can't combo. Some will follow the same script every fight. In fact, only one boss has a true melee attack, which never changes its pattern. I really disliked that EVERY boss had 2-3 invincibility moments where you have to wait until you were allowed attack them again. I like that they enhance their moves as the fight progresses, adding new threats to the pattern. But for nearly every boss, phase 3 will have the same/very similar attacks as phase 1, no new big attacks. Overall, very easy to first try each boss with the exception of the desert night one (I think that one is too spammy with the AOEs, kind of relying on luck to get an opening). For some smaller nitpicks, I think the character is a little too magnetized to anything hittable. It's common to make a 180 turn to hit an enemy or assisting props, and/or fling yourself into danger when you were at a safe distance (particular projectiles and constant AOE attacks). Also the particle/hit effects can make it hard to read what enemies are doing, especially the smaller ones. The shop/selling gameplay has been greatly enhanced and actually requires some thought to utilize appropriately. There is a whole upgrade tree, furniture effects, and perk system exclusively for the shop. The upgrade tree introduces vital mechanics that require some careful consideration to maximize potential earnings. Stuff like better perks in the perk pool, better customer types, etc.. Furniture tends to only benefit certain relics on specific spots, so you'll have to consider where each relic goes and figure out how furniture improves another. On certain time intervals, a certain rarity or level's relics will become "popular" so they sell for more (so stop playing the same level!). Similar to the combat portion of the game, there are perks that add some spice to the system. There are a fair bit of them and all are quite varied, all the while none of them being totally useless.